Carbon Hill, Minooka opt to keep the status quo

Though his involvement with the village of Minooka dates back to 1999, Pat Brennan has only served as the village president of Minooka for four years.

On Tuesday, voters decided he should serve another four.

Brennan defeated challenger Jacqueline McKinney by a better than four-to-one margin, garnering 813 votes to just 192 for McKinney, a former member of the Grundy County Board.

The lopsided victory seems to express that residents are appreciative of what Brennan and the village council has done during the past four years to cut spending and lower taxes despite the floundering economy.

In advance of the election, Brennan also touted efforts to bring jobs to the village of Minooka. Grainger Corporation brought 500 jobs to the community, Electrolux 200-plus jobs and Trader Joe’s will bring 400 to 500 more jobs when it opens in October of this year.

McKinney, in campaigning to replace Brennan as village president, called upon her experiences on the Grundy County Board and on her history of service to others. She identified the need for more downtown businesses as one of the biggest challenges.

“There has to be a way that we can bring businesses into Minooka,” she said.
“I will collaborate with other mayors to try to figure out what’s wrong.”

Voters on Tuesday also decided with whom Brennan should collaborate, electing three individuals to serve as village trustees. Newcomer Yolanda Wilhelm fell short in her bid, with Ray Mason, Terry Houchens and Rudy Martin getting the nod from voters.

Mason led the way with 647 votes, followed by Houchens with 637 and Martin with 609. Wilhelm settled for 467 votes in her failed bid.

CARBON HILL

The other village selecting a village president on Tuesday was Carbon Hill.

There, too, voters decided to give the current leader another four years to guid the village. Edward Pacchetti reclaimed the office with 56 votes, enjoying a slim eight-vote victory over Michael A. Cerny.

The race for village trustee in Carbon Hill was uncontested, with Daniel B. Rodgers garnering 78 votes and Daniel L. Babcock receiving 53 in their successful runs for the board.

COAL CITY

Unlike in Carbon Hill, residents of neighboring Coal City did have a decision to make regarding who will serve on the village board over the next four years. In fact, residents elected three board members from a field of five candidates.

When the voting was completed Tuesday evening, Tim Bradley had come out on top, earning a seat with 281 votes. He will be joined by Justin E. Wren, who received 271 votes, and David Togliatti, with 232.

Coming up short in bids for the Coal City Board were Irving DeWald (116 votes) and Caleb Counterman (88 votes).

CHANNAHON

The village of Channahon also saw a contested race for trustee, having to rely on voters in portions of two different counties to decided the race, which proved to be very close between two contenders for the final of three available spots.

Based on unofficial totals Tuesday night, Marks Scaggs claimed that final seat with 667 votes, edging out Lawrence Troutman by just nine votes. The other two successful candidates were Janet Schumacher, who led the way with 767 votes, and Sam Greco, who received 702 votes.

Jerald M. Papesh fell short with his bid, receiving just 625 votes.

UNCONTESTED

In uncontested races Tuesday, several other Grundy County communities elected individuals to their top offices.

In Diamond, Teresa Kernc was re-elected mayor with 95 votes, while it took just 15 votes for both Mary Kaye Yatuni to be elected in East Brooklyn and Mark Harlow to be so honored in Kinsman.